this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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Antidepressant Meds
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What do the brain zaps feel like it, I was on it for years at max dose (for Canada anyway) and I don't think I ever felt anything like a brain zap. Sleep problems yes, but I also stopped cold turkey one day and had no negative effects
It's like tiny electric shocks in your head. I mostly feel it in my gums and eyes. It's not painful but very irritating, and it gets my anxiety up.
I always describe the brain zaps like this:
You know how it feels to take a rubber balloon and rub it against your hair? That staticy feeling? It's like that, except inside your skull.
Edit: For me, it wasn't painful. Just very wrong and bad and a sensory nope-nope-nope. It went away within maybe 15 minutes of taking my meds.
Wait, after reading this thread, I feel like I got a lot of brain zaps, but for me they are not unpleasant. For me they are actually somewhat good feeling of relaxation. But maybe its just me. Also as a sidenote, did venlafaxine really helped you? I got it for 1 month, then my doctor cancelled it, saying that it was not having intended effect on me
Venlafaxine did help. The first time I was on it, I remember walking down the sidewalk and just doing of double-take of "oh, this feeling. I think I'm happy. This is what 'happy' feels like. Weird."
I haven't had anything so flagrant this time (and the flavor of stress I'm under is different), but I think it helps with my anxiety.